Durban - Some business owners in the Pinetown Central Business District in Durban say they are unhappy at being issued with non-compliance fines during the eThekwini municipality’s business compliance inspections this week.
A series of non-compliance and food safety concerns were noted at food outlets operating in the Pinetown CBD during inspections by environmental health officers which formed part of the 'Mother of All Clean-ups' campaign in Pinetown.
Among the main transgressions identified by inspectors, were dirty working conditions, the lack of provision of protective clothing for workers, no protection from dust, and swarms of flies at the food outlets.
All the non-compliant businesses were fined.
The owner of a butchery that had meat stored in bags and containers in a cold room floor said he received two fines.
"I have been running this butchery for nine years. It was an unexpected visit. There was no meat kept on the floor. Everything was kept in dishes as seen in the pictures. There were bagged ox heads on the floor. There were about 80. How do you hang that? They even come in the truck like that. In my view, everything was fine. You can't hang everything. The cold room is about 5x4 metres. I can't expand.
"They (inspectors) said the shop was not neat and my jacket had blood on it. I work with meat, so I can't be spotless. They said the meat must be raised up, not just in a dish. How do you raise a dish? All the meat was hung, only dishes (with meat in them) were on the floor. They said there's a lot of flies, but the whole area has flies. I was fined R4 000 all together. I can't really complain about it because they have a right to check the premises. I will be going to court and explain that they came unexpectedly and they must show me how to do it," he said.
Mohammed Hoqu, manager of Pinetown Schwarma, also received two fines.
"We received a fine for R2 000 for the shop being dirty, but we clean it. We were also fined R1 500 for not having the (correct) paperwork. Business is bad and I don't have the money for this. Load shedding is affecting us. I can't open the shop at certain times. I will have to borrow the money to pay the fines," said Hoqu.
Msawake Mayisela, municipal spokesperson, said the inspections are conducted on an on-going basis by all municipal departments,, including the Environmental Health Department.
"There are 18 environmental health offices in eThekwini Municipality which cover all the areas and wards regarding inspection of food premises. The city is currently working on implementing a model called District Development Model (DDM) especially in the CBD’s (Pinetown, Durban, Verulam, Isipingo). The model will ensure that stakeholders plan, budget, implement together and evaluate work and develop sustainable plans. This includes short, medium, and long-term plans. It is the city’s obligation to continue conducting such inspections and operations,“ said Mayisela.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE